Business operations typically involve such activities as the purchasing and sale of goods, storing and shipping of the goods, billing for the goods, and related activities. Activities of this kind, and planning and organization related to the activities may be referred to as “business logistics” or simply “logistics.” Software used in facilitating logistics operations may accordingly be referred to as “logistics software.”
Each step in a logistical process may result in the creation or modification of an associated record using logistics software. A simple example of steps of a logistical process are the steps of receiving a customer order, scheduling delivery of the order, and updating inventory. Each of these steps might generate corresponding records, such as, respectively, a sales order record, an outbound delivery record, and a goods issue record. A sales order record may record such things as the customer's name, and the type and number of goods ordered. An outbound delivery record might include such information as a delivery location and time, a shipper, and so on. A goods issue record might record, for example, how many items were shipped, and when, so that the seller's inventory records could be suitably updated. A parallel process might occur on the purchasing end of the transaction. That is, the purchaser of the goods might generate a purchase order record corresponding to the sales order record generated by the seller, an inbound delivery record corresponding to the outbound delivery record, and a goods received record corresponding to the goods issue record.
A trader or trading company conducts a business that involves both the purchasing and selling of goods, possibly in a speculative fashion. That is, a trader typically does not himself produce a good, store it and ship it. Instead, a trader may sell goods without necessarily having the goods on hand, or buy goods without necessarily having a buyer for the goods. An example of a trader or trading company is one that trades in oil. A trader might purchase a quantity of oil, then seek a buyer for the oil. Or, a trader might sell a quantity of oil, then seek a seller to buy the oil from. The trader might further need to arrange for the receipt or delivery of the oil. Pursuant to such activities, a trader typically uses logistics software in his business.
Challenges faced in the trading business include the need to quickly and efficiently move goods between buyers and sellers. If, for example, a trader has ordered goods, he must find a buyer for them quickly or cover the expense of storing them himself. On the other hand, if a trader has sold goods and does not have them on hand, he must quickly find a seller or risk not being able to meet the sales contract. Further, a trader must know the status of his goods at all times so that he can ensure that they are allocated in the correct quantities to the correct customers. For example, errors such as selling the same goods to two different customers must be prevented. Given the numerous records that can be generated in connection with logistical operations as described above and the complications that can ensue therefrom, there is a need for software to manage the records in such a way that the challenges presented to the trading business are met.